By TheAtheistCrusader ~ A fter the overwhelming comments of support on my opening testimonial letter, I was really touched by most of the support I got. Thank you for it! English: Logo from the television program The Big Bang Theory (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When I first entered theoretical physics , I discovered the magic of reality. I always loved math, and this was an atheist's wonder. Recently I elaborated my own little theory about the universe , and I'd like to share it with my fellow non-believers. Based on the law of conservation , it is said that "no matter is created nor destroyed only transformed" From this it is insinuated that every smallest particle of matter (electrons, and even gluons) was and always will be there. From this it is insinuated that in accordance with the Big Bang theory , in the original nucleus was every particle of matter. This of course, is impossible, as density is a factor. Continuing on this, it is noted in the la...

By Valerie Tarico ~ I f the Catholic Bishops , their Evangelical Protestant allies, and other Right-wing fundamentalists had the sole objective of decimating religious belief, they couldn’t be doing a better job of it. Testimonials at sites like ExChristian.net show that people leave religion for a number of reasons, many of which religious leaders have very little control over. Sometimes, for example, people take one too many science classes. Sometimes they find their faith shattered by the suffering in the world – either because of a devastating injury or loss in their own lives or because they experience the realities of another person’s pain in a new way. Sometimes a believer gets intrigued by archaeology or symbology or the study of religion itself. Sometimes a believer simply picks up a copy of the Bible or Koran and discovers faith-shaking contradictions or immoralities there. But if you read ExChristian testimonials you will notice that quite often church leaders o...

By Michael Sherlock ~ I n the third volume of my ‘I Am Christ’ series, I dedicate two chapters to examining hypnosis and NLP ( Neuro-Linguistic Programming ), as they apply to most, if not all, Christian Church services. Hypnosis (Photo credit: heyjoewhereyougoinwiththatguninyourhand ) In the chapter on Hypnosis , entitled; The Magic of Modern Christianity: Sunday Morning Hypnosis, I discuss the five stages of hypnosis as they relate the average church service. The following is a small excerpt from I Am Christ; Vol. 3: The Ascension – Understanding, which includes a brief background on hypnosis as well as the second stage of hypnosis. Hypnosis Misunderstood Contrary to popular myth, hypnosis is not about turning people into chickens! It is true however, that deep trance hypnosis can dramatically alter one’s perception of reality, in much the same way that meditation, prayer, long term fasting, entrancing religious rituals, or walking for miles in the hot desert. Contr...

By iwonder ~ I was born into a super-strict church. Outward appearances were the most important things. Not only dress-wise, but attitude-wise also. The church preached 2 works of grace: salvation, then holiness. Holiness was huge. That was when you emptied yourself of yourself, and were filled with the holy ghost.Proof of this was loss of any negative emotions, the biggest of which was anger. The root of sin was removed, and after receiving the baptism, people did not sin. I had THE WORST time achieving this. Salvation could be lost, and there were so many things that were sins that I couldn't stay saved long enough to receive the holy spirit. I perceived myself as more sinful than most (step over, apostle Paul !) because no one else in my church had the trouble I did. All I wanted in the world was for god to love me, and for me to be holy. Beginning in my very early teens, I got serious about my soul, but I could not quit sinning. The church had an altar where p...

By Carl S ~ W e are NOT going away. We have tolerated 2000+ years of being silenced, suppressed, persecuted, tortured and killed, simply because we disagree with religious beliefs. Don't expect us to back down. Over the span of 2000+ years, you STILL have NO evidence to verify your claims. And with every new piece of scientific evidence to back up natural explanations formerly attributed to invisible "supernatural" forces, your god melts like the Wicked Witch of the West . Don't expect us to not keep reminding you of this as long as you arrogantly try to force your will on the rest of society as "the laws of God." You have no more legitimacy than any of the other thousands of religions. So, get used to our voices. Adjust to opinions and beliefs other than your own: beliefs in the rights of humans over themselves, in the inherent goodness of mankind, and the destructiveness which is caused through blind, unthinking obedience to dogmas. If you didn’t w...

By JC ~ I swear I am not making this up. I subscribe to a priest's FB stuff because, honestly, some of what he posts is really interesting to me. However, in a recent post, we got into a discussion about moral laws (e.g. "Go kill all the Jews and Gypsies") to which I responded that when the law is immoral it's our duty to disobey it. Here's where the conversation went from there: Priest: English: The inside of an Orthodox church. Greek Orthodox Church. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John, let me ask you this: You say "When the law is immoral, it is our duty to disobey," and "the law itself is insipid." On what basis do you call a law immoral? Without God as guide and teacher, ultimately there is no arbiter of morality except oneself. Your Truly: Your question is based on a common fallacy. To state that one cannot be moral without god is not well thought out. For the sake of argument, let us suppose that there are moral laws that ar...

By BP ~ H ere's one for the critical thinkers. I swear I'll tie in religion at the end. Dead=Not Alive; Therefore, Afterlife=Beforelife. Soap bubble (Photo credit: Raphael Quinet ) In words now: I was not alive before I was alive and I'll be not alive after my death . So how can before life and after life be any different? See I don't remember the before life b/c I did not have a brain then. I could not carry around this collection of data that we call memories in life. Nor would I have any need for them. They do not apply. How long was I not alive before I was alive? An hour, a day, an eternity? As far as I can remember it was an instant and an eternity all in one. There is no use for time when one is not alive. It is being alive that confines us to this space time continuum. A little like being trapped I guess. Separated from the truth that perhaps we once knew. When we were not alive. I like to think of being alive as not too much unlike ...

By John ~ HEBREWS 6: 4-6 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost , 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. T he first time I read those words I became convinced it was speaking about me, and I was terrified. It happened about 3 years ago, during a time I could only explain as my brief sojourn from sanity, into the world of uncertainty, doubt, fear, and misery that I now associate with religious belief. I've always been slightly obsessive: a mixture of the passion to understand things and my high intelligence. It's both a blessing and a curse. I first heard about Jesus when I was 6 years old from a babysitter at the prompting of my mother, concerned over my eternal well-being. She ...

By an Alabamian ~ I admit that I am powerless to change the fact that I have been Christian for a good part of my life. I realize that I have within me the power to free myself from the harmful part of my Christian past and that I am no longer bound by promises or covenants which I was induced to make based on the false promises of Christianity . I make to myself a firm promise to listen in the future only to reason, rationality, and factual evidence in making decisions about how I should live my life, rejecting all emotional appeals, guilt-inducing threats, myths, pretty stories, promises of castles in the air, and superstition. I make a searching and fearless moral and intellectual inventory of myself with the purpose of recognizing in myself those weaknesses which induced me to remain Christian for so long. I am able to list the specific reasons why I can no longer be Christian. I make the decision to do what is right, and to accept whatever the consequences may be f...

By Jeff Rohde ~ I t has been an extremely long journey to get to where I am now and even though my destination is well in sight, I still feel there is more to be done and that is something I am working on at this time. There is no reason to mention the project I am working on right now because an idea is only an idea until you put that idea into motion and end with a result that not only satisfies yourself, but everyone else you intend to share it with. My project is in motion, it just does not have an end to date. Now, I do not intend on boring anyone reading this with meticulous events or useless babble, so I will be as brief as humanly possible as I present my testimonial for I assume many of you who reading this will already understand the missing parts. Agnostic (Photo credit: las - initially ) I was born in the heart of the " Bible Belt " in 1970 to Christian parents. My parents and family referred to themselves as Baptists, so that is what I believed my ...

  By Danimal  (aka  Aspieguy)  ~ P erhaps my largest objections to the organized church is its music. Hymnbooks have been largely discarded in many churches in favor of "praise and worship" or simply "worship" music. The music and lyrics are simple, easily reproduced by any "worship team" with minimal talent. Unfortunately, the lyrics are often bereft of meaning and frequently repetitive. Consider the lyrics of this song: This is the air I breathe. This is the air I breathe. Your holy presence living in me. And I, I'm desperate for you. And I, I'm desperate for you. If you are like me, you are mystified by these words. Picture singing them six or seven times in a row. Worshippers will always have their eyes closed and maybe their hands raised. They often describe their minds as empty during these songs. To a person with Aspergers syndrome or "Aspie" such music can be sheer torture. Because I am a highly visual thinker, I am...